FILE - In this March 4, 2015, file photo, then-Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the Justice Department in Washington. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will take a leave of absence for an unspecified period and let his leadership team run the troubled ride-hailing company while heÕs gone. Kalanick told employees about his decision Tuesday, June 13, 2017, in a memo. The announcement comes as former U.S. Attorney Eric Holder released a list of recommendations to improve Uber's toxic culture. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Nestle's CFO Wan Ling Martello, listens during the presentation of the results of 2013 of the Nestle Group, in Vevey, Switzerland Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. Nestle, the world's biggest food and drink company, says it expects 2014 to be just as challenging as last year amid weaker growth in emerging markets along with falling prices and deflationary pressure in Europe. The Vevey, Switzerland-based company says it expects improvement in the second half and about 5 percent organic sales growth for 2014, which does not reflect acquisitions and currency fluctuations. Nestle's statement Thursday said 2013 net profit fell to 10 billion Swiss francs (US $11.1 billion), down from 10.6 billion francs in 2012. (AP Photo/Keystone, Maxime Schmid).

The head of controversial ride-hail company Uber will take an indefinite leave of absence after the death of his mother and five months of nearly non-stop controversies, the company said yesterday.

“Recent events have brought home for me that people are more important than work, and that I need to take some time off of the day-to-day to grieve my mother, whom I buried on Friday, to reflect, to work on myself, and to focus on building a world-class leadership team,” CEO Travis Kalanick wrote in an email to Uber employees.

For months, Uber has been under siege as a torrent of scandals and accusations have left the company reeling. But the biggest was an internal investigation conducted by former Attorney General Eric Holder, looking into allegations of systemic sexual harassment.

The investigation was prompted by a blog post by Susan J. Fowler, a former engineer at Uber, who wrote about her experiences at the company, including accusations that were ignored by Human Resources.

Kalanick announced his leave minutes before a company-wide meeting, where board members, including Arianna Huffington, presented recommendations from Holder’s report. The report recommends broad strokes including increased training and improved hiring practices to minute details such as renaming a conference room from the War Room to the Peace Room.

“Implementing these recommendations will improve our culture, promote fairness and accountability and establish processes and systems to ensure the mistakes of the past will not be repeated,” said Liane Hornsey, chief HR officer for Uber. “While change does not happen overnight, we’re committed to rebuilding trust with our employees, riders and drivers.”

Kalanick’s leave comes a day after Emil Michael, senior vice president of business development and one of Kalanick’s top deputies, was forced out. Holder’s report recommended Michael be asked to leave after a series of controversies centered around him.

Though Michael’s position was filled, Uber still does not have a chief marketing officer, chief financial officer or president. All of those jobs remain open.

“It is incredible how many people have left at the same time — it’s too many,” said Robert Pozen, a professor at MIT. “It has a significant effect.”

There was yet another sign yesterday that Uber has a ways to go to clean up its act. Huffington, speaking about the addition of Wan Ling Martello to the board of directors — the second woman on the board — said data show adding one woman to a board of directors improves the odds of a second woman joining.

“Actually, what it shows is that it’s much more likely to be more talking,” said David Bonderman, another board director.

He later apologized — and stepped down from the board — in the latest Uber gaffe.